Friday, May 3, 2013

Fiberart International at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts - Part 3

 


That Which Is Empty, May Be Filled, 2009
wire, paper, wax, paint, optional time lapse video
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Micromanaged, 2011
seed beads, silk, hand embroidery
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 Lizz Aston, Canada
Exploding Lace View, 2012
linen, fusible interfacing, dyed, starched, hand-cut
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Yvette & Ansley, 2010
cut denim
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Etude 36: Arabesque: Contemplation, 2011
mixed media, textile
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She Speaks Folly in a Thousand Holy Ways, 2011
recovered afghan, beads
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Anna Goebel, Poland
Greetings from the Forest, 2012
cellulose, mose*
*I think this should be moss, but the tag read mose
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 Ann Nyberg, Sweden
A Day in Life, 2012
mixed fiber
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Mixed Bags, 2012
fiber
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Revealing Cracks Mandala, 2011
heat-treated fibers, textiles, embroidery, birch frame
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Brown Hair Baby Doll, 2011
needle felted wool
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Jane Dunnewold's Etude 36: Arabesque: Contemplation is easily my favorite of this group. The textures, materials, colors, techniques and artistry evokes the same response as my other favorites. Yes. I stood in its' personal space as well and loved every second of it. 

Anne Goebel's Greetings from the Forest installation still haunts me. Just the idea of using moss and paper to create an ever changing artwork boggles my mind with the simplicity, yet immense vision required to create it. 

Jim Arendt's Yvette & Ansley opened my eyes and mind. Remember that newly acquired stack of old jeans that were destined to become another studio apron? Hmmm....maybe not now....

15 comments:

  1. What a wonderful trip you've had. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

    I find it hard to pick a favourite in this post, though the 'Exploding Lace' with its stunning shadows and the wonderful subtleties of Jane Dunnewold's 'Arabesque' may just have the edge for me.

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    1. Charlton, it was indeed a wonderful trip - made even more so by sharing it with my friend Pam. She's a mixed media/fiber artist also so discussions of pieces and techniques, etc. were fun and often.

      "Exploding Lace" was magnificent, but it was the shadows that captivated me...as you can no doubt tell from the photos. I love pieces that produce such intriguing shadows...sort of like a whole second piece of art.

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  2. J - love greetings from the forest. B

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    1. Kinda thought that might be the piece. Did you notice Pat Mink's Dumpster 5b from the previous post? She stitched a whole section of rusty metal and it was glorious up close. Wait...she did not stitch on metal, rather stitched and stitched until it became a section of rusty metal. Make sense? My photos don't do it justice.

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    2. J I agree - I thought that was beautiful but could not work out how it was done etc - thanks for sharing the process. B

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  3. what eye candy! thanks so much for sharing that with us.

    we have similar tastes as dunewold's is my favourite as well. it's the sort of thing i would want to make.

    see the close-up of her work, where the open-weave fabric looks glued on? do you have any advice on that? i've searched far and wide but all i ever find is 'then the fabric was added on'. HOW!!??? i want to create fused on looks, fabric collages, but am unsure what to use. simple fabric glue? are there glues that won't stiffen the fabric too much?
    just thought you might know which direction to point me in lol

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    1. Monica, I wish I could tell you how Jane did it, but I can't. There were numerous layers with no apparent method of holding them together. I'd guess that fusing was used somewhere along the way as a first step to adhere the fabric to the base, but can't swear to it.

      It seems that at some point, Jane participated in a quilt exhibition in London and needed to make pieces to fit the booth size there - which are smaller than the US 10 x 10 normal booth size. I think it was around then that she began working with discarded clothing. I've tried to find her blog entries talking about the show and process, but have yet to find them again.

      One of Jane's blogs was The Existential Neighborhood. It is still available online. The blog associated with Art Cloth Studios is no longer available for access. That might be where I remember the entries from. Sorry!

      http://existentialneighborhood.blogspot.com

      I've used matte medium and fusing to adhere fabric to a canvas. Fusing changed the fabric the least. Truthfully, I'd suggest playing around with various methods of adhering fabric to see which results you like best. Probably not the advice you were hoping for. Sorry about that!

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    2. i appreciate you offering some insights.
      i was considering matte medium, but was hoping for something that retained the suppleness of the cloth. perhaps all the examples i've seen DON'T retain the suppleness!

      i'm not interested in bringing in a soldering iron for fusing... might explore more on invisible adhesive thingies.

      anyway thanks!

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    3. This is such an interesting conversation about Jane's piece, which was also my favorite. It was very complex with no indication of how she did it. I think it's mystery is it's allure. As a side note, I am very concerned about using fusing material in fiber work that is fragile to start with. I'm concerned it is not archival and will 'yellow' or deteriorate the fabric. I do use it on occasion to stiffen paper in journal covers, but I'm not proud of it. In an art piece like Jane's, I'm not sure she would risk it. I had been a fan of her blog and was sorry to see it go.....

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    4. Monica B - Got a bit of a chuckle at the thought of using a soldering iron with fiber. Given how awkward me and my left hand can be at times, I'm sure something would eventually catch fire. When I spoke of fusing, I meant what you refer to as "invisible adhesive thingies". Sorry for the confusion!

      Over the Rainbow - You may be right about fusing not being archival. My own use of it has been too recent to have noticed any color change in the fabric adhered with it. As for Jane's method - what would your best guess be? Those top layers seem to simply be.

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  4. Hi J

    Have really enjoyed this art-ful experience form afar; would love to have tagged along behind you both and listened and learned. I enjoyed so many of these pieces and will come back again and again I think.

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    1. You were with us in spirit, but oh! how lovely it would be to have you with us in 2015 for the next Fiberart International. Something to think about...

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  5. Thank you Jennifer......I was magically transported to Pittsburgh myself last week and managed to see this part of the show! This is a very very nice overview......and beautiful photographs! I'm still pinching myself that I was there too.

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    1. I'm so glad you got to see it! Isn't this section of the show wonderful? Which was your favorite? Or...hmmm...top 5?

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  6. Thank you for sharing the show!!!

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